West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team will close the regular season with a chance at sharing the MEC North Division Championship when they play at Wheeling on Friday night. The Hilltoppers and Cardinals will face off in a battle between the top-2 teams in the division with first serve at 7 p.m. in the Alma Grace McDonough Center in Wheeling.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Wheeling, W.Va. (Alma Grace McDonough Center)
• First Serve: 7 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Friday's match with a record of 22-7 (10-3 MEC) following a sweep at home against Frostburg State on Monday night, marking their eighth win in their last nine matches. The Hilltoppers are currently second in the North Division of the Mountain East Conference standings and can clinch a share of the division title with a win.
• For the fifth consecutive poll and third straight year WLU has appeared in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings, ranking No. 8 in the NCAA's second release on Wednesday.
• Through 29 matches this season WLU is hitting .192 while averaging 12.2 kills, 11.4 assists, 1.7 aces, 16.9 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set.
• The Hilltoppers rank within the top-20 of NCAA Division II in four statistical categories, ranking eighth in total digs (1,878), 11^th in total attacks (4,026), 17^th in total assists (1,260), and 20^th in total kills (1,358).
• Katelynn Fritz is among the top-10 of the individual leaders in the MEC with 296 total kills which is ninth most in the league. She is averaging 2.74 kills per set with a .187 attack percentage.
• Liv McAtee and Leah Driscoll are second and third on the team respectively with 238 and 225 kills. McAtee has notched 2.29 kills per set with a .220 attack percentage, while Driscoll has collected 2.71 kills per set and has a .192 attack percentage.
• Dakoda Keni has been among the top freshman setters in the country this season, having tallied 909 assists which is third in the MEC and is the sixth most by a freshman in DII. Keni has been averaging 8.19 assists per set, which is fifth best in the conference. In last Friday's match against Fairmont State, she broke the WLU single-season record for assists.
• Bella Dart and Nyia Setla lead the Hilltoppers at the service line, as both have recorded 37^th service aces to average 0.37 and 0.33 aces per set.
• Setla, the leader of the West Liberty defense, has collected 560 digs on the season, which ranks second in the MEC and is the fifth most in DII. She is also second in the conference and 28^th nationally with 5.05 digs per set.
• Setla earned her fourth MEC Defense Player of the Week honor on Monday afternoon, as she recorded 35 digs (5.00 digs per set), six assists (0.86 assists per set), two service aces (0.29 aces per set), and one kill last week.
• Grace Hill leads the Hilltoppers at the net and ranks seventh in the league with 90.0 total blocks and an average of 0.95 blocks per set that is sixth in the MEC. Page Gross has added 58.0 blocks and is averaging 0.60 blocks per set.
• Riley Jarrett is in her fourth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 71-37 with the Hilltoppers.

WHEELING STORYLINES

• Wheeling enters Friday's match with a record of 21-7 (11-2 MEC) following a 5-set loss at Notre Dame on Monday night, snapping a 13 match win streak. The Cardinals are a perfect 13-0 at home this season and currently sit atop the North Division of the Mountain East Conference standings.
• Wheeling is the highest ranked of five MEC schools in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Rankings, appearing at No. 4 on Wednesday afternoon.
• Through 28 matches this season WU is hitting .265 while averaging 14.0 kills, 13.4 assists, 0.7 aces, 18.3 digs, and 2.3 blocks per set.
• The Cardinals rank within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in eight statistical categories, ranking fifth in total assists (1,322), sixth in assists per set (13.35), 11^th in digs per set (18.28) and total kills (1,388), 12^th in kills per set (14.02), 14^th in total digs (1,810), 15^th in hitting percentage (0.265), and 21^st in total blocks (223.5).
• Tylah Yeomans leads the attack for WU, averaging the second most kills in the conference with 3.75 per set and is fourth with 345 total kills on the year. Riley Kindal is second on the team with 308 total kills and 3.24 kills per set, ranking seventh in the league in both.
• Wheeling currently has three of the top-6 players in hitting percentage in the MEC with Maddy Winters leading the conference with an average of 0.377, Katie Wilking is fourth with an attack percentage of 0.310, and Yeomans in sixth with a 0.296 attack percentage.
• Karly Niessen is the top setter in the league, ranking first in total assists (1,114) and assists per set (11.60) while also ranking fourth in NCAA Division II in both.
• Defensively the Cardinals are led by Riley Kindall with 347 digs and an average of 3.65 digs per set which are sixth in the MEC. She also leads the team with 13 service aces on the year.
• At the net, Winters leads the conference in blocks per set (1.17) and is second in total blocks (103). She ranks 24^th and 39^th nationally in the two respective categories.
• Christy Benner is in her 22nd season as the head coach at Wheeling with a career record of 691-153 during her time with the Cardinals.

SERIES HISTORY

• Wheeling is 30-1 against West Liberty since the 2010 season, with the lone Hilltopper win occurring on March 5, 2021 in a 3-1 victory in the ASRC.
• The Cardinals swept the Hilltoppers in the first meeting this season on October 10 in the ASRC with set scores of 25-21, 25-12, and 25-21.
• In the first match-up this season Leah Driscoll led the attack with 12 kills and added a pair of blocks while Katelynn Fritz notched a double-double with 16 digs and 11 kills.